安樂集

Chapter Four

This chapter aims to show that the eminent Great Virtuous Ones of the doctrinal schools all turned toward the Pure Land. At the same time, it introduces how most Mahayana scriptures take the Samadhi of Buddha-Recollection as their essential principle and shows that Buddha-recollection brings many benefits.

1. The Great Virtuous Ones of the doctrinal schools all turned toward the Pure Land:

The Buddha's original intent was to deliver all sentient beings universally. Therefore, in addition to the doctrinal approach of relying exclusively upon one's own power to eradicate delusions and realize the truth, he also taught the Dharma gate combining self-power with other-power, whereby one relies solely upon the Power of the Vow to escape samsara. Thus, after inheriting and transmitting the teachings of their respective traditions, the patriarchs of the various schools also propagated the Pure Land teaching.

Patriarchs Asvaghosa and Nagarjuna, patriarchs of the Chan School, both vowed to attain rebirth there and encouraged others to cultivate the Pure Land path. Tiantai Patriarch Great Master Zhizhe realized the Lotus Samadhi and constantly cultivated the Wondrous Contemplation. Patriarch Vasubandhu, a patriarch of the Consciousness-Only School, composed verses expressing his vow for rebirth and, relying upon the Infinite Life Sutra, encouraged others to attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Within the doctrinal schools in particular, six Dharma masters were regarded as their foremost champions. They were Dharma Master Liuzhi, a Mahayana Dharma master thoroughly versed in the Tripitaka; Dharma Master Huilong, a Dharma master of lofty practice and venerable virtue who had utterly renounced fame and gain; Dharma Master Daochang, an outstanding scripture lecturer whose every discourse inspired assemblies of holy beings to come and listen; Dharma Master Tanluan, a Great Virtuous One whose harmonious radiance spread everywhere and who was revered by two kingdoms; Chan Master Dahai, a Great Virtuous One of the highest meditative contemplation;

and Vinaya Master Tonghui, whose rigorous observance of the great precepts was praised throughout the country and admired by the imperial court.

These six Great Virtuous Ones were all exemplary spiritual models encompassing the Two Truths and served as the mainstay of the True Dharma in their time. Their resolve, conduct, and vows were peerless and rarely seen in either ancient or modern times. Although they propagated the Mahayana widely, they always turned toward the Land of Bliss and regarded the Pure Land as the unsurpassed essential Dharma gate.

Question: The Great Virtuous Ones regarded the Pure Land as the unsurpassed essential Dharma gate. Were there spiritual signs when they approached the end of their lives?

Answer: There were indeed complete and unmistakable spiritual signs. Dharma Master Tanluan, for example, cultivated the Pure Land teaching every day. One day, a secular scholar came and asked him: "The Buddha lands of the ten directions are all Pure Lands.

Why must the Dharma Master concentrate exclusively upon the West? Is this not the arising of a biased view?" The Dharma Master replied: "I am an ordinary being of shallow wisdom who has not yet entered the stage of the Ten Grounds. The power of recollection must be cultivated repeatedly.

It is like leading an ox with grass: the mind must always be bound to one place; how could it be allowed to wander freely without any destination?" The Dharma Master resolved every difficult question. When he encountered people in whom right faith had not yet arisen, he caused them to develop firm faith; once they had faith, he encouraged them to dedicate their merit toward the Land of Ultimate Bliss. As the Dharma Master was about to pass away, monastics and laypeople throughout the monastery all saw banners and canopies and celestial flowers filling the monastery, while wondrous fragrances and music welcomed and escorted him to the Western Land.

When the Great Virtuous Ones named above reached the end of their lives, each displayed auspicious signs of rebirth, all of which are recorded in full in the Record of Sages and Worthies.

2. The Scriptures Take the Samadhi of Buddha-Recollection as Their Essential Principle.

In the Flower-Hand Sutra, the Buddha told Bodhisattva Firm Resolve: "There are two kinds of samadhi: the Samadhi of One Characteristic and the Samadhi of Multiple Characteristics.

"What is the Samadhi of One Characteristic? In another world, there is a bodhisattva before whom a presently abiding Buddha is teaching the Dharma. That bodhisattva retains the Buddha's excellent physical characteristics and contemplates them as though they were before his very eyes—whether the Buddha is seated at the place of enlightenment or turning the Dharma wheel while surrounded by the great assembly.

Retaining the characteristics in this way, he gathers in all the sense faculties so that his mind does not become scattered, concentrates upon one Buddha, and never abandons this condition. Within the characteristics of the Tathagata and the characteristics of the world, bodhisattvas clearly understand their characteristiclessness. They constantly contemplate and practice in this way without departing from this condition.

At that time, the Buddha's image immediately appears before them and teaches them the Dharma. The bodhisattva then gives rise to profoundly reverent respect. Whether the Dharma he hears and receives is profound or shallow, his veneration steadily increases.

Within this samadhi, the bodhisattva hears it taught that the characteristics and substance of all dharmas are subject to dissolution. Having heard this, he retains it; and after emerging from samadhi, he can expound this Dharma to the fourfold assembly. The Buddha said: Firm Resolve, this is called a bodhisattva's entrance into the Samadhi of One Characteristic."

The Manjusri Prajnaparamita Sutra speaks of the Samadhi of One Practice: "At that time, Manjusri addressed the Buddha, saying: World-Honored One, why is it called the Samadhi of One Practice? The Buddha taught: One who cultivates the Samadhi of One Practice, whether a good man or a good woman, should dwell in a tranquil and secluded place, abandon all distracted thoughts, and, facing the direction in which the Buddha abides, sit upright toward him.

Without apprehending physical characteristics, one should bind the mind to a single Buddha, exclusively recite his name, and continue recollecting him without interruption. Within this very recollection, one can see all Buddhas of the three times—past, present, and future. Why is this so?

Because the immeasurable and boundless merit of recollecting this Buddha is neither two nor different from the immeasurable merit of all Buddhas. This is called the Bodhisattva's Samadhi of One Practice."

In the Nirvana Sutra, the Buddha taught: "If a person sincerely cultivates the Samadhi of Buddha-Recollection, the Buddhas of the ten directions always see that person as though he were directly before them. Therefore, the Buddha said: Bodhisattva Kasyapa, if good men or good women are always single-minded and exclusively mindful of the Buddha, whether they dwell in mountains and forests or in villages, whether by day or night, whether sitting or lying down, the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, always see them as though they were directly before their eyes, constantly dwell together with them, and accept their offerings."

The Contemplation Sutra teaches: "Those who cultivate the myriad practices and dedicate their merit can all attain rebirth, yet the Dharma gate of Buddha-recollection is the essential path. Why is this so? According to the sacred teachings, practitioners receive two kinds of benefit, the former and the latter.

If they wish to give rise to wholesome deeds and undertake cultivation, this encompasses all the paramitas. If they wish to eliminate evil, calamities, and obstructive hindrances, it dispels every misfortune and harm. Therefore, the latter portion of the Contemplation Sutra says: 'Sentient beings who recollect the Buddha are embraced by the Buddhas and never forsaken.

When the span of their lives has ended, they immediately attain rebirth.' This is called the former benefit. Regarding the latter benefit, the Sutra of Avalokitesvara's Prediction of Buddhahood says: 'Amitabha Buddha abides in the world for an extremely long time, lasting as many kalpas as the sands of the Ganges. Although he eventually enters cessation, after his nirvana the two great bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta will uphold and preside over the Land of Peace and Bliss and welcome sentient beings from the ten directions.

Although Amitabha Buddha has entered cessation, it will be just as during the time when he dwelt in the world! Therefore, all sentient beings in that land will still be able to see the Buddha.' Thus, anyone who single-mindedly and exclusively recollects Amitabha Buddha and vows to attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss will always see Amitabha Buddha presently abiding and not having entered cessation. This is the latter benefit.

Those who cultivate other practices and dedicate their merit can all attain rebirth, and even after the World-Honored One has entered cessation they can still behold him. These are distinctive and immense benefits. I respectfully urge everyone to consider them carefully!"

The Prajnaparamita Sutra says: "At that time, Bodhisattva Bhadrapala, while dwelling in his own land, heard of Amitabha Buddha and constantly kept him in mindful recollection. Through this recollection, he was able to see Amitabha Buddha. Having seen the Buddha, the bodhisattva immediately addressed Amitabha Buddha, saying: May the World-Honored One instruct me concerning which Dharma I should cultivate in order to be born in that land.

At that time, Amitabha Buddha taught: Bodhisattva, if you wish to be born in my land, constantly recite and recollect my name continuously and without interruption, and you will immediately attain rebirth in my land. Or, if you constantly recollect the Buddha's thirty-two physical characteristics—perfectly complete, brilliantly radiant, majestic, and beyond compare—you will also attain rebirth."

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says: "There are three reasons explaining why practitioners must recollect the Buddha.

a- The Buddha is the unsurpassed Dharma King, and bodhisattvas are ministers of the Dharma. The only one worthy of supreme reverence is the Buddha, the World-Honored One; therefore, one should constantly recollect the Buddha.

b- Some bodhisattvas reflect: From immeasurable kalpas until now, through the grace of the World-Honored One, my Dharma body, wisdom body, and body of great loving-kindness and compassion have been nurtured and brought to maturity. All meditative concentrations, wisdom, and immeasurable practices and vows have been accomplished through the Buddha. In order to repay this profound kindness, I therefore constantly vow to remain near the Buddha, just as a great minister, having received the sovereign’s favor, always remembers his lord.

c- Some bodhisattvas constantly reflect: During the period of my cultivation of the causes, I encountered evil spiritual friends, slandered the Prajnaparamita, and fell into the evil destinies. Throughout immeasurable kalpas, although I cultivated many practices, I was still unable to escape. Through the Buddha’s instruction, all obstacles were swept away, and only then did I attain liberation. Having received such benefit, I vow never to depart from the Buddha and always to recollect the Buddha.

The Avatamsaka Sutra says: “I would rather endure suffering for immeasurable kalpas than dare to depart from the Tathagata and fail to behold his sovereign powers. Through the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi, one will certainly see the Buddha and, after the end of one’s life, be born in the Buddha’s presence. I earnestly exhort those approaching death to recollect the Buddha.

One should point to an image of the Buddha and tell them to bring forth utmost sincerity and reverence and vow to attain rebirth.” Another passage says: The youth Sudhana, seeking a good spiritual friend, went to the bhikshu Meghashri and said: “Great Master, how should one cultivate the bodhisattva path in order to perfect the practices of Samantabhadra?” At that time, the bhikshu Meghashri taught: “Within the ocean of wisdom of the World-Honored One, I practice and know only one Dharma, called the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi.

Why is this? Because within this samadhi one can behold all Buddhas and the retinues adorning their Pure Lands, and can enable sentient beings to leave delusion and inversion far behind. The Buddha-Recollection Samadhi enables one, within the subtlest realms, to behold all the sovereign realms of the Buddhas and to remain free from inversion throughout many kalpas.

The Buddha-Recollection Samadhi enables one to form a vision of all Buddha lands without their being destroyed, to behold all Buddhas universally, and to remain free from inversion throughout the three times.” The bhikshu Meghashri then said to Sudhana: “The Buddha-Dharma is as deep as the ocean and vast beyond all boundaries. What I know is only this Buddha-Recollection Samadhi. As for the many other wondrous realms, I have not yet come to know them.”

The Sutra of the Dragon King of the Ocean says: “At that time, the Dragon King of the Ocean said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! What practices must disciples seeking rebirth in Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land cultivate in order to be born in that land?’ The Buddha said: ‘Dragon King! Those who wish to be born in that land must practice eight dharmas.

What are these eight? a- Constantly recollect the Buddhas. b- Make offerings to the Tathagatas. c- Praise the World-Honored Ones. d- Create images of the Buddhas and cultivate meritorious deeds. e- Dedicate one’s vows toward rebirth. f- Maintain a mind free from timidity. g- Practice diligently with single-minded devotion. h- Seek the Buddha’s right wisdom.’ The Buddha said: ‘Dragon King! All sentient beings who possess these eight dharmas will constantly remain inseparable from the Buddha.’

Question: Can those who do not possess all eight dharmas be born in the Buddha’s presence and remain inseparable from the Buddha?

Answer: They can certainly be born there, without doubt. How is this known? The Sutra of the Precious Cloud Spoken by the Buddhas says: “The Buddha clearly taught ten practices through which one may attain rebirth in the Pure Land.

Those who fulfill them will constantly remain inseparable from the Buddha. At that time, the bodhisattva Sarvanivaranavishkambhin said to the Buddha: ‘If someone does not fully practice all ten dharmas, can that person attain rebirth?’ The Buddha answered: ‘That person can attain rebirth. It is only necessary to fulfill one of the ten practices completely and without deficiency; the other nine practices will then all be called pure.

Do not give rise to doubt.’” Furthermore, in the Great Tree Sutra, the kinnara king says: “Bodhisattvas who practice four dharmas will constantly remain inseparable from the Buddha. What are these four dharmas? a- They themselves cultivate wholesome dharmas and exhort sentient beings to vow wholeheartedly for rebirth so that they may behold the Tathagata. b- They encourage themselves and others to delight in hearing the true Dharma. c- They encourage themselves and others to arouse bodhicitta. d- They single-mindedly practice the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi.

Those who practice these four dharmas will always dwell in the presence of the Buddha wherever they may be and will not be separated from the Buddhas.”

The sutra says: “The dharmas practiced by bodhisattvas produce thirty-two things that accompany them. Generosity is the cause accompanying great wealth; patience is the cause accompanying a dignified and handsome appearance; observance of the precepts is the cause accompanying a noble body; the five rebellious offenses and unfilial conduct are the causes accompanying mountains of knives, forests of swords, and cauldrons of burning coals; arousing bodhicitta is the cause accompanying the attainment of Buddhahood; and constantly recollecting the Buddha and attaining rebirth in the Pure Land are the causes accompanying the vision of the Buddha.” Here only six accompanying causes have been briefly cited; the others cannot all be recounted.

Since the sutra has spoken so clearly, why should practitioners who vow for rebirth not constantly recollect the Buddha?

The Samadhi of the Moon-Lamp Sutra says: “Recollecting the Buddha’s excellent marks and virtues can prevent the faculties from becoming agitated and disordered, keep the mind free from delusion, and bring one into accord with the Dharma. Upon hearing this teaching, one attains wisdom as vast as the ocean. Wise practitioners who gather in the mind and recollect single-mindedly within this samadhi can behold a thousand kotis of Tathagatas and can also encounter immeasurable Buddhas, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.”

3- Questions and answers revealing the benefits of samadhi.

Question: Is it the case that those who constantly cultivate the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi should not cultivate other samadhis?

Answer: To say that one should constantly recollect the Buddha does not mean that one should not cultivate other samadhis. It merely means that one should practice the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi more frequently; hence it is called constant recollection. It does not mean that one should entirely refrain from practicing other samadhis.

Question: If one is exhorted constantly to cultivate the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi, does this mean that it is superior to other samadhis? Please explain this clearly.

Answer: The extraordinary characteristics of the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi are inconceivable. How is this known?

The Mahayana scriptures say: “All samadhis are called samadhi, but the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi differs from them in certain respects. Some samadhis can eliminate greed but cannot eliminate anger and delusion. Some samadhis can eliminate only anger but cannot eliminate delusion and greed. Some samadhis can eliminate only delusion but cannot eliminate greed and anger. Some samadhis can eliminate only present obstacles but cannot eliminate all obstacles of the past and future. If one constantly cultivates the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi, all obstacles of the present, past, and future will be completely eliminated.”

Question: The Buddha-Recollection Samadhi can eliminate obstacles and bring merit, but can it benefit practitioners by prolonging their lives and increasing their longevity?

Answer: It certainly can. How is this known? The Ruweiwu Samadhi Sutra says: “There were two brothers.

The elder brother believed in cause and effect and practiced accordingly, while the younger brother did not believe, though he was skilled in physiognomy and divination. When the elder brother looked at his face in a mirror, he saw that the signs of death had already appeared and that he would not live beyond seven days. Fortunately, he then encountered a wise person who told him to go and ask the Buddha.

The Buddha answered: ‘The allotted span of your life has been exhausted, and you will die in seven days. If you can single-mindedly recollect the Buddha and uphold the precepts, you can lengthen your life and escape premature death.’ Having heard this, the man followed the instruction, gathered his mind, and recollected the Buddha. On the sixth day, two ghosts came intending to lead him away, but the sound of his Buddha-recollection blocked their path.

They returned and reported to King Yama. King Yama brought out the register, in which it was recorded that, through the merit of upholding the precepts and recollecting the Buddha, this man would enjoy a long life and, after death, be born in the third palace of the Heaven of Blazing Radiance.”

The Sutra of Parables says: “There was once a wealthy elder who did not believe in karmic offenses and blessings. When he was fifty years old, one night he dreamed that a ghost came holding a death warrant, intending to seize him, and declared that it would return to take him away ten days later. The elder was deeply frightened and went to a physiognomist to have the dream interpreted.

The diviner told him that this was an omen that a death-dealing ghost had come to harm him and that, in no more than ten days, his allotted lifespan would end. The elder was greatly alarmed and went to see the Buddha. The Buddha told him: ‘If you wish this condition to cease and your lifespan to be prolonged, from this time onward you must be mindful of the Buddha, observe the precepts, and make offerings to the Three Jewels.

You may thereby escape death on that appointed day.’ Following the Buddha’s teaching, the elder placed his wholehearted faith in the Buddha and single-mindedly practiced mindfulness of the Buddha. Exactly ten days later, the death-dealing ghost came to his door. Hearing the sound of his recitation of the Buddha’s name and observing the meritorious practices he was cultivating, it departed and could not harm him.

Through the merit of cultivating mindfulness of the Buddha, the elder lived to be one hundred years old and, after his death, was reborn in a heavenly realm.

Question: The samadhi of mindfulness of the Buddha can counteract various obstructions and alter karmic recompense in this life, but what of the supramundane attainment of unsurpassed bodhi?

Answer: It certainly brings this result. Why? As the Chapter on the Ten Grounds in the Avatamsaka Sutra says: “Beginning with the First Ground and continuing through the Tenth Ground, each ground sets forth the preparatory practices for entering that ground.

When a ground has been fulfilled, the merit and benefits still do not cease. Although these bodhisattvas cultivate all practices, they never depart from mindfulness of the Buddha, mindfulness of the Dharma, and mindfulness of the Sangha, and they make offerings of supremely wondrous music to the Three Jewels.” This passage shows that bodhisattvas established on the grounds constantly cultivate mindfulness of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha; only thereby can they accomplish unsurpassed practices and vows and fill the ocean of merit.

How much more, then, should those of the Two Vehicles and ordinary beings who seek rebirth in the Pure Land cultivate mindfulness of the Buddha! Why? Because this samadhi of mindfulness of the Buddha fully contains all Dharmas, including the Four Means of Embracing, the Six Paramitas, the common practices, and the distinct practices.

Question: Bodhisattvas from the First Ground through the Tenth Ground realize the principle of true suchness together with the Buddha and are said to be born into the Buddha’s family. They themselves manifest as Buddhas and transform and liberate sentient beings. Why, then, must they still cultivate the samadhi of mindfulness of the Buddha and vow to behold the Buddha?

Answer: True suchness is exceedingly vast and boundless, like empty space, and its full measure is difficult to fathom. It is like an immense dark house: if one or two lamps are lit, their light may reach everywhere, yet the illumination remains dim. Even if many lamps are lit, one can only say that the light is great; how could it compare with the sun? Although the wisdom realized by bodhisattvas becomes superior with each ground, it remains limited in measure. How could it compare with the Buddha’s radiant wisdom, which is like the sun?

Chapter Five

This chapter addresses three subsidiary points: 1. Distinguishing between swift and gradual cultivation; 2. Comparing meditation and contemplation and encouraging their practice; 3. Comparing the contaminated and the uncontaminated and citing sacred teachings as proof.

1. Distinguishing between swift and gradual cultivation of the Path.

All sentient beings dislike suffering and seek happiness; they fear bondage and seek liberation. Therefore, everyone wishes swiftly to realize unsurpassed bodhi. For this reason, practitioners must first arouse the bodhi mind.

This mind is difficult to understand and difficult to arouse because its fruit is supremely exalted. Even if one succeeds in arousing it, according to the sutras one must cultivate ten kinds of practice: faith, vigor, mindfulness, morality, concentration, wisdom, relinquishment, protection of the Dharma, making vows, and dedication of merit. One then gradually advances toward the fruit of bodhi.

Thus, one must continue taking human bodies and practicing without interruption for ten thousand kalpas before realizing the stage of non-retrogression. Ordinary beings today have faith and aspiration as light as a strand of hair. They are also called nominal practitioners, members of the group destined for concentration, or external ordinary beings who have not yet escaped the burning house.

Why? According to the Bodhisattva Garland Sutra, the complete stages of practice from the First Faith through Equal Enlightenment and Wondrous Enlightenment require three asamkhyeya kalpas. Hence, this is called the difficult path.

Moreover, even within a single kalpa, the bodies and lives taken on through birth and death cannot be fully counted, much less the suffering endured in vain throughout ten thousand kalpas. If a person can believe and follow the Buddhist sutras, vow to be reborn in the Pure Land, then, whether that person’s lifespan is long or short, the result is attained in that very lifetime, and the stage of non-retrogression is reached. This is equivalent to ten thousand kalpas of cultivation by one who follows the Noble Path. Why do the disciples of the Buddha not reflect carefully and relinquish the difficult in favor of the easy?

The Abhidharmakosa also explains the easy and difficult practices as follows: “The difficult method requires cultivation throughout three asamkhyeya kalpas. In each kalpa, one must fully accumulate the provisions of merit and wisdom and practice the Six Paramitas. Within all these practices, every single karmic deed entails hundreds of thousands of difficult tasks before one stage can be completed.

It is therefore called the difficult method. If a person possesses a special skillful means by which liberation can be attained, it is called the easy method.” The Pure Land Dharma gate exhorts people to seek rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss and to dedicate all their practices and karmic deeds toward that land. One need only be single-minded and fully concentrated; when one’s lifespan ends, one is immediately reborn in that land and attains ultimate purity.

How could this not be called an easy Dharma?

Question: It has been said that those who vow to be reborn in the Pure Land will immediately attain rebirth there when their lifespans end. Which sutras or teachings provide evidence for this?

Answer: Let me cite seven sutras and treatises to verify this.

The Larger Amitabha Sutra teaches: “Ananda! If sentient beings wish to behold the Buddha Amitayus in this very life, they should arouse the mind of unsurpassed bodhi, cultivate various meritorious deeds, and vow to be born in that land; they will then attain rebirth there.” A verse says:

“If one hears the honored name Amitabha,

Joyfully praises, reveres, and takes refuge,

Even for a single thought, one gains great benefit,

For one thereby obtains the jewel of merit.

Though the great trichiliocosm be engulfed in flames,

One should still cross it to hear the Buddha’s name.

Hearing Amitabha’s name, one does not regress;

Therefore, single-mindedly and sincerely bow in homage.”

The Contemplation Sutra teaches: “Among the nine grades, practitioners of every grade who maintain right mindfulness at the time of death immediately attain rebirth.”

The Treatise on the Awakening of Faith says: “Sentient beings are taught and encouraged to contemplate true suchness, the true characteristic of equality. Yet there are also newly resolved bodhisattvas whose minds are weak and timid. They say to themselves that they cannot constantly encounter the Buddhas and make offerings to them in person, and thus they are inclined to regress. One should know that the Tathagata possesses a supreme skillful means for gathering in and safeguarding their faith: he teaches them to concentrate their minds on mindfulness of the Buddha. Through this cause and condition, they attain rebirth according to their vows; because they constantly behold the Buddha, they remain far removed from the evil paths.”

The Drum-Sound Dharani Sutra says: “At that time, the Blessed One told the bhiksus: ‘I shall expound for you the Land of Peace and Bliss in the West, where at present there is a Buddha named Amitabha. If the fourfold assembly can receive and uphold that Buddha’s name, firmly retain it in their hearts, and remember it without forgetting, then for ten days and ten nights they should cast aside distraction and diligently cultivate the samadhi of mindfulness of the Buddha. If they can cause each thought to continue without interruption, then within ten days they will certainly behold the Buddha Amitabha and immediately attain rebirth.’”

The Dharma Drum Sutra says: “If, at the time of death, a person is unable to be mindful of the Buddha but merely knows that a Buddha abides in that direction and wishes to be reborn there, that person will also attain rebirth.”

The Sutra on Rebirth in the Ten Directions According to One’s Vows says: “If a person has reached the end of life or, after death, has fallen into hell, and the members of that person’s family practice mindfulness of the Buddha on behalf of the deceased or recite sutras and cultivate blessings, the deceased can escape from hell and be reborn in the Pure Land. How much more certain is rebirth for one who personally cultivates mindfulness while still alive!”

The Great Dharma Drum Sutra says: “If any good man or good woman constantly concentrates the mind and recites the names of the Buddhas, then the Buddhas of the ten directions and all sages and saints will always see that person as though perpetually present before them. Know that, according to that person’s aspirations, they will attain rebirth in the Pure Lands throughout the ten directions.”

The Great Compassion Sutra says: “Why is it called great compassion? If a person single-mindedly recites the Buddha’s name without interruption, when that person’s life ends, they will certainly be born in the Land of Peace and Bliss. If one can, in turn, exhort others to recite the Buddha’s name together, that person is called a person of great compassion.”

The Nirvana Sutra says: “The Buddha declared: Great King! Suppose that every half-month the king were to open all his great treasuries and distribute their contents among all sentient beings. The merit thereby obtained would not equal that of a person who utters the Buddha’s name a single time; the merit of the latter surpasses that of the former beyond measure.”

The Ekottarika Agama Sutra says: “Ananda! Suppose someone were to offer clothing, bedding, medicines, and medical necessities to all sentient beings throughout this entire continent of Jambudvipa. Would that person’s merit be great?” Ananda replied: “World-Honored One, it would be exceedingly great and beyond reckoning.” The Buddha said: “Ananda! If a sentient being, with wholesome thoughts arising continuously, recites the Buddha’s name for even as brief a time as it takes to milk a cow, that person’s merit surpasses that of the giver beyond measure.”

The Large Prajnaparamita Sutra says: “Even if a person recites the Buddha’s name with a distracted mind, that person can still bring suffering to an end, and their merit cannot be fully reckoned. If a person offers flowers to the Buddha and recites the Buddha’s name, that person will also bring all suffering to an end, and their merit cannot be fully reckoned. Know, therefore, that the benefits of Buddha-recitation are exceedingly great and inconceivable.”

2. Comparing meditative contemplation and exhorting beings to aspire for rebirth.

This realm is a defiled environment in which evil and distracted thoughts abound; therefore, meditative contemplation is difficult to cultivate successfully. Even if one succeeds in cultivating it, one attains only mundane concentration, while abundant pleasures increase defilement. If one can subdue delusive karma, the resulting recompense is rebirth in the heavenly realms; yet when one’s heavenly lifespan ends, one mostly falls back.

Therefore, the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says: “Through meditation, extensive learning, and observance of the precepts, one has not yet attained the undefiled Dharma. Although merit may have been gained, this cannot yet be relied upon. If one wishes to turn westward and cultivate, the object of cultivation is radiant and pure, contemplative concentration is easily accomplished, the transgressions of many kalpas are eradicated, concentration is swiftly attained, and ultimate coolness is realized, just as the sutras teach.”

Question: If the Western Land is a supreme realm capable of supporting the cultivation of meditation, while this realm is inferior, does this mean that meditative concentration should not be cultivated here?

Answer: If we discuss the causes for cultivating concentration, they encompass both this realm and that realm. However, in that realm everyone abides at the stage of non-retrogression and receives the sustaining power of the Buddha; therefore, it is called a supreme realm. In this realm, although concentration can be cultivated, it depends solely upon one’s own diligent practice without assistance from anyone else. When karmic conditions reach their end, it is difficult to avoid retrogression. One must be very cautious.

3. Comparing the defiled and the undefiled.

Taking the two environments—the pure and the defiled—as our basis, let us examine which is defiled and which is undefiled. The environment of this realm contains only the three evil paths; mounds and hills, mountains and ravines, sand and soil, thorns and brambles; floods, droughts, whirlwinds, and raging waters; thunder and lightning; tigers, wolves, and venomous beasts; vicious bandits and disobedient children; disorder, destruction, and dispersion; and devastation by the three calamities.

As for the direct recompense of beings in this realm, there are the three poisons and the eight inverted views; sorrow, grief, resentment, and anger; numerous illnesses and short lives; hunger, thirst, and scorching heat; and constant pursuit and harm by ghosts and demons. Because there are exceedingly many defiled and evil things, this realm is called defiled and is truly loathsome. Those reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss are said to dwell in a supreme realm.

The Great Sutra says: “Humans and devas throughout the ten directions who attain rebirth in that land all receive its benefits. Why is this? Because, once born in that land, when they walk, golden lotuses support their feet; when they sit, jeweled seats support their bodies; when they go forth, Sakra leads the way; when they enter, Brahma follows behind.

All the holy assembly are their companions, and Amitabha Buddha is their original teacher. Beneath the trees and throughout the groves, they come and go as they please; in the pools of eight meritorious qualities, they bathe at will. Their bodies are the color of pure gold, and their lifespans equal that of the Buddha.

When studying, they advance through all gates of Dharma; when at rest, they perfectly comprehend the two truths. Traveling freely throughout the ten directions, they exercise great supernormal powers; while sitting quietly for only a short time, they enter the three gates of liberation. They journey upon the Noble Eightfold Path, and their destination is Great Nirvana.

All sentient beings who reach that land fully possess these benefits. Why not resolve to go swiftly to that land?

4. Citing the teachings of the sutras.

The Sutra on the Samadhi of Contemplating the Buddha says: “At that time, Buddhas of the ten directions each appeared in empty space, sitting serenely in the full lotus posture upon a lotus dais. The Tathagata Good Virtue addressed the great assembly: ‘All of you should know that I recall, immeasurable lifetimes ago, a Buddha named the Tathagata Jeweled Majestic Virtue Supreme King. That Tathagata appeared in the world and taught the Dharma of the Three Vehicles, just as is done today.

After that Buddha entered nirvana, a bhiksu gathered nine disciples and went to pay homage at the Buddha’s stupa. When they bowed before an image of the Buddha, they saw that its excellent marks and radiant light could be contemplated. Having contemplated it, they bowed reverently; gazing upon it intently and clearly, each of them spoke a verse in praise.

In due course, these men reached the end of their lives. After death, they were born in the presence of a Buddha. From then onward, throughout immeasurable lifetimes, they continually encountered Buddhas.

In the presence of those Buddhas, they extensively cultivated the holy life and attained the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi. Having attained that samadhi, the Buddhas appeared before them and each bestowed a prediction of buddhahood upon them. Throughout the ten directions, they became Buddhas according to their aspirations.

The Buddha Good Virtue in the eastern direction is none other than myself, while the Buddhas of the other nine directions were formerly my disciples. The World-Honored Ones of the ten directions attained buddhahood by paying homage at the stupa and offering verses of praise.’ At that moment, the ten Tathagatas of the ten directions emitted great radiance, revealing their physical forms and the splendid marks of the white curl.

Each came and sat beside Shakyamuni Buddha, saying to Ananda: ‘You should know that Shakyamuni Buddha diligently practiced throughout many lifetimes and performed ascetic practices for hundreds of thousands of kalpas in quest of the Buddha’s wisdom before attaining this magnificent reward-body. We now explain this to you. You must convey these words to the fourfold assembly of the Buddha’s disciples in the future age, teaching them the contemplation of the Buddha’s excellent marks and the Buddha-Recollection Samadhi.’ After speaking these words, the Buddhas of the ten directions inquired after Shakyamuni Buddha’s well-being and then returned to their own lands.”

Chapter Six

This chapter develops two main points: comparing the Pure Lands of the ten directions and discussing the preservation and disappearance of the sutras.

1. Comparing the Pure Lands of the ten directions.

The Sutra on Rebirth According to One’s Vows says: “The lands of the Buddhas throughout the ten directions are all exceedingly adorned and pure. According to one’s original vows, one can attain rebirth in any of them. Nevertheless, none of these Pure Lands equals the Land of Ultimate Bliss of the Buddha Infinite Life in the western direction. This is because Amitabha Buddha, Avalokiteshvara, and Mahasthamaprapta, when they first aroused the aspiration for enlightenment, went from this realm to that realm; therefore, they have profound karmic affinities with the sentient beings of this realm. For this reason, Shakyamuni Buddha praises that land and directs beings toward it at every place and every time.

The Great Amitabha Sutra says: “When Bodhisattva Dharmakara was cultivating the causal practices in the presence of the Buddha Lokeshvararaja, he made vast vows to liberate sentient beings, establish a Pure Land, and gather sentient beings into it. For the bodhisattva, the Buddha Lokeshvararaja manifested twenty-one billion Pure Lands, revealing in their entirety all the good and evil humans and devas and all the coarse and pure features of those lands. At that time, Bodhisattva Dharmakara vowed to establish the Land of Ultimate Bliss in the western direction to welcome and guide sentient beings, and he has now attained buddhahood there.”

In the Contemplation Sutra: “Lady Vaidehi sought rebirth in the Pure Land. Within the luminous dais of the World-Honored One, all the Pure Lands throughout the ten directions appeared. Lady Vaidehi addressed the Buddha: ‘Although all these lands are pure and radiant, I now wish to be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss of Amitabha Buddha.’” The passages cited above show that among all the Pure Lands, the Land of Ultimate Bliss of Amitabha Buddha is the most excellent of all.

Question: Why must those who practice mindfulness of the Buddha face west when sitting in meditation, paying homage and reciting, or contemplating?

Answer: In Jambudvipa it is commonly said: “The direction where the sun rises is called life, and the direction where the sun sets is called death.” Within birth and death, the time of death is the most fearful and painful. Therefore, out of his vast compassion and his wish to welcome and guide sentient beings, the bodhisattva Dharmakara vowed to attain Buddhahood in the western direction. When sitting in contemplation or paying homage and reciting, one faces west because Amitabha Buddha never ceases from his vow to welcome and guide beings; he constantly extends his hand to lead sentient beings home, just as a mother extends her hand to lead her child back to their native home.

According to propriety, the child should face the mother. For sages, direction presents no obstacle; but ordinary beings should direct both body and mind toward the same place. If the body faces another direction while the mind wishes to go west, rebirth there will be very difficult.

Thus, the Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom says: “There was a bhiksu who, during his lifetime, recited the Amitabha Sutra and practiced mindfulness of the Prajnaparamita. As he was approaching death, he told his disciples: ‘Amitabha Buddha and the assembly of sages have appeared before me.’ Having said this, he joined his palms and practiced mindfulness of the Buddha; a moment later, he relinquished his recompense-body.

His disciples cremated him according to the Dharma. When the fire had gone out, his entire body had been consumed, but his tongue and the root of his tongue alone remained intact and as fresh as when he was alive. All his disciples erected a stupa and made offerings to it.”

Bodhisattva Nagarjuna says in the Expository Treatise: “Because he recited the Amitabha Sutra, the Buddha came to welcome him at death; because he practiced mindfulness of the Prajnaparamita, his tongue remained fresh.” The passage above provides proof. One should therefore know that, whatever the practice or karma, if it is wholeheartedly dedicated toward rebirth, there is no practice through which one cannot attain rebirth there.”

2. The preservation and disappearance of the sutras.

The sutras spoken from the golden mouth of Sakyamuni Buddha are divided into three periods. The first five hundred years following the Buddha’s attainment of the Way are called the Age of the True Dharma. The following one thousand years are called the Age of the Semblance Dharma.

The subsequent ten thousand years are called the Age of the Degenerate Dharma. After that period, the sutras will gradually disappear. Out of compassion for suffering sentient beings, the Tathagata will especially preserve this Great Sutra in the world for another one hundred years.

The evidence above shows that although that Pure Land is wholly pure, it universally accommodates beings of both superior and inferior capacities. Those who understand that form is non-form are born in the highest grade, while ordinary beings in the burning house who single-mindedly practice mindfulness of the Buddha can still attain rebirth in the lowest grade.

Chapter Seven

This chapter addresses bondage and liberation, as well as the greater or lesser exertion required in cultivation.

1. The question of bondage and liberation.

Those who maintain the pure characteristics of the Western Land swiftly attain liberation, experience only bliss, and possess clear and luminous wisdom-eyes. Conversely, those who maintain the characteristics of impurity have only deluded and obscured thoughts; bound by calamities and misfortunes, they are burdened with ever more fear.

Question: According to the Mahayana sutras, non-form is said to be the essential path of detachment, whereas attachment to form brings bondage and prevents one from escaping entanglement in sensory objects. What, then, is the meaning of now exhorting sentient beings to forsake impurity and delight in purity?

Answer: The meaning is not fixed. Why? Because there are two kinds of form:

a- With regard to the objects of desire belonging to the five sensory objects, deluded attachment and defiled craving cause one to cling to objects. Such forms are called forms of bondage.

b- Delighting in the Buddha’s virtues and aspiring to be born in the Pure Land is spoken of as form, yet it is a form of liberation. How is this known? The Sutra of the Ten Stages says: “Bodhisattvas on the First Ground independently contemplate the two truths.

With concentrated minds, they direct their attention and initially seek by relying upon form. Ultimately, form becomes non-form as they gradually strengthen the essence of the mind of Great Bodhi. Only upon completing the Seventh Ground do the ordinary mind and the mind that apprehends form cease, and they enter directly into the Eighth Ground, where they no longer seek through form.

Only then is this called effortless functioning. Therefore, prior to the Seventh Ground, evil craving is an obstruction and is counteracted by wholesome craving for form. From the Eighth Ground upward, wholesome craving itself becomes an obstruction, and there is no further craving to be used as its antidote.” This applies even to sages, how much more so to ordinary beings outside the stages who seek rebirth in the Pure Land.

All the roots of goodness they cultivate arise from delight in the Buddha’s virtues; how could this be called bondage?

The Nirvana Sutra says: “All sentient beings have two kinds of craving: wholesome craving and unwholesome craving. Seeking the Dharma through wholesome craving is what bodhisattvas seek; unwholesome craving is sought only by foolish ordinary beings.”

The Treatise on the Pure Land says: “Contemplating the Buddha-land is the flavor of purity; embracing and accepting sentient beings is the flavor of the Mahayana; and arousing the practice and vow for rebirth is the flavor of the Buddha-land. The qualities of the Buddha’s Way are immeasurable in this manner; therefore, although one apprehends form, it is not bondage. The forms spoken of in that Pure Land are precisely undefiled forms, the forms of true reality.”

2. The greater or lesser exertion required in cultivation.

If one wishes to arouse the aspiration to be born in the Western Land, one must devote time to paying homage, contemplating, and reciting, for a longer or shorter period according to the circumstances of one’s life. When life ends, radiant light and a lotus dais will come to welcome one and convey one to that land, where one realizes the stage of non-retrogression. Thus, the Great Sutra says: “If humans and devas throughout the ten directions who are born in my land do not ultimately attain Buddhahood and still fall into retrogression, I shall not abide in perfect enlightenment.” In this land, practitioners must devote much time to fully cultivating the bodhisattva practices of generosity, morality, patience, diligence, concentration, and wisdom.

Yet before completing ten thousand kalpas, they generally cannot escape the burning house and are continually subject to inverted views, delusion, and downfall. Thus, they expend immense effort but obtain very little result. The Great Sutra also says: “Those born in my land transcend the five evil destinies of the Saha world.” Compared with the Land of Ultimate Bliss of Amitabha Buddha, all five destinies in the Saha world are called evil destinies.

Hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals exclusively create evil karma and undergo evil retribution, and hence are called evil destinies. Humans and devas in the Saha world, being inclined toward mixed karma, are likewise called evil destinies.

If one cultivates in accordance with the path of this world, one must first eliminate delusions of view, thereby abandoning the causes of the three evil destinies and extinguishing their effects. Next, one must eliminate delusions of thought, thereby abandoning the causes of birth among humans and devas and ending the effects of human and heavenly existence. Eliminating them successively in this manner cannot be called emerging horizontally.

It is like a wood-boring insect that wishes to escape from a tree: it must bore successively from the bottom to the top before it can emerge. If one attains rebirth in the land of Amitabha Buddha, however, one escapes all five destinies simultaneously; hence this is called emerging horizontally. It is like an insect boring sideways through the skin of a bamboo and thereby escaping.

Those who cultivate the Noble Path must pass through fifty-two stages, just as an insect must bore through fifty-two bamboo joints before it can emerge. The time required is therefore extremely long and is called three asamkhyeya kalpas. If a person intentionally dedicates the merit of practice and vows for rebirth in the Western Land, then at the longest it takes the remainder of one lifetime, while at the shortest only ten recitations are required to attain rebirth.

Upon reaching that land, one immediately enters the assembly of those established in right concentration and abides at the stage of non-retrogression, equaling the achievement of one who has cultivated the Noble Path for ten thousand kalpas. This comparison enables us to see with perfect clarity which path of cultivation is slow or swift, difficult or easy.

Chapter Eight

This chapter addresses three principal themes: citations from the sutras exhorting beings to forsake this land and delight in that land, Amitabha Buddha’s power to deliver beings universally, and an explanation of the meaning of rebirth.

1. Citations from the sutras exhorting beings to forsake this land and delight in that land.

All Mahayana scriptures exhort beings to leave this realm and aspire to that realm. Most notably, on Mount Gridhrakuta, for the sake of Queen Vaidehi, the Buddha expounded the Sutra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life, exhorting everyone—from those of the highest virtue to those guilty of rebellious and evil deeds—to vow to attain rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. They should leave the defiled Saha world and be born in the Pure Land.

Thereafter, the Buddha expounded the Sutra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life and the Amitabha Sutra, both of which likewise exhort beings to leave this realm and be born in that realm. At the Avatamsaka Assembly, the great bodhisattva Samantabhadra made the Ten Great Vows and exhorted the ocean-wide assembly of the Lotus Treasury to attain rebirth there. In the Surangama Sutra, the bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta presented the perfect and all-penetrating method of mindfulness of the Buddha, exhorting everyone to seek rebirth there.

There are also such scriptures as the Sutra on Rebirth in the Ten Directions According to One’s Vows, the Sutra of Immeasurable Purity and Impartial Enlightenment, and the Sutra on the Ten Attainments of Rebirth. As for the treatises, very many exhort beings to leave this realm and go to that realm, including the Treatise on the Ten Stages, the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, and the Treatise on Rebirth—far too many to enumerate.

Thus, leaving the defiled Saha world and seeking birth in the Western Pure Land is the great orientation of the Mahayana scriptures and treatises.

2. Amitabha Buddha’s power of universal deliverance.

All Tathagatas fully possess the powers and wondrous functions for delivering sentient beings, but according to their original vows, they may or may not manifest those powers of deliverance. Long ago, in the kingdom of Vaishali, the people were afflicted by five kinds of dreadful illness and came to beseech the Buddha to extend his hand and save them. At that time, Shakyamuni Buddha, moved by immeasurable compassion, told the sick: “In the West are Amitabha Buddha, the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, and the bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, who are great kings of physicians.

Therefore, you must single-mindedly join your palms and pray to behold Amitabha Buddha; you will then be saved.” At that moment, Amitabha Buddha emitted a great radiance, and the bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta arrived together. They proclaimed a great divine mantra, and all the suffering caused by illness was dispelled.

The spiritual powers of all Tathagatas are equal, without superiority or inferiority. Shakyamuni Buddha wished to conceal his own capabilities in order to reveal those of Amitabha Buddha, so that everyone might turn toward him together. Therefore, Dharma Master Tanluan composed these verses of praise:

The bodhisattvas and shravakas of the Land of Peace and Bliss,

And its humans and devas, are all wise and thoroughly discerning.

Their bodily marks are majestic and extraordinarily beautiful;

Names are established only in conformity with sentient beings.

Their upright and handsome countenances cannot be surpassed;

Their wondrous bodily marks differ from those of devas and humans.

Their bodies are empty and insubstantial, without limiting form;

Therefore, I take refuge, bow my head, and pay homage.

Question: What intention do those who vow to be born in the Pure Land have?

Answer: They wish only to attain Buddhahood swiftly; to perfect the practices of benefiting themselves and others; to embrace and uphold the true Dharma; to accord with the nondual nature; to realize Buddha-nature; to penetrate the true aspect of reality; to contemplate their own minds as encompassing the Three Truths; to attain the unobstructed vajra state; and to realize Great Nirvana. Then, with great compassion, they return to the ocean of birth and death to liberate immeasurable sentient beings without limit.

Question: Those who vow to be born in the Pure Land wish to save sentient beings. They should simply remain in this realm to relieve suffering. Why do they vow to be born in the Pure Land, seemingly abandoning sentient beings because they delight in the bliss of that land?

Answer: This interpretation is incorrect. As the Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom states: “Suppose two children both see their parents fall into a deep abyss. One runs directly to them and exerts all his strength to rescue them, but because his strength is insufficient, they all drown and die. The other child runs to find a boat, rows over, and pulls them out, so all are delivered from danger.” Bodhisattvas are the same. Before giving rise to the aspiration, they remain in the cycle of birth and death, no different from other sentient beings. Once they have aroused bodhicitta, however, they first vow to attain rebirth in the Pure Land. Then, steering the vessel of great compassion and possessing unobstructed eloquence, they enter the ocean of birth and death to rescue sentient beings.

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom also states: “Bodhisattvas born in the Pure Land possess great spiritual powers and unobstructed eloquence. Even then, when teaching and transforming sentient beings, they may still be unable to cause them to increase virtue, eliminate evil, deepen their progress on the path, and advance through the stages in accordance with the bodhisattvas’ intentions. How much less could they obtain the desired benefit by rescuing sentient beings in this defiled land? It would be like putting a chicken into water—how could it avoid becoming wet?”

The Great Sutra contains these verses of praise:

The bodhisattvas of the Land of Peace and Bliss

Freely expound teachings replete with wisdom.

Having heard them, all beings forget self and possessions,

Pure as lotus blossoms unstained by dust.

Coming and going, they steer the vessel of compassion,

Bringing abundant benefit and escape from the ocean of suffering.

They realize emptiness without severing the two conceptions;

They carry the torch of wisdom to illuminate the long night.

The three knowledges and six superknowledges are fully perfected;

Through the mind’s eye they contemplate the bodhisattva’s myriad practices.

Such merit is truly boundless;

Therefore, I now vow to be born there.

Chapter Nine

This chapter addresses two principal topics: the relative opposition between suffering and bliss, and the length or brevity of the lifespan.

1. The opposition between suffering and bliss.

Regarding suffering and happiness, we see that although people in the Saha world experience both painful and pleasant karmic consequences, suffering is generally abundant and happiness scarce. In the gravest cases, they fall into the three lower realms, where they undergo burning and torment. In lighter cases, humans and devas are continually bound by warfare and illness, and these afflictions never cease throughout countless successive kalpas.

Even for those in the heavenly realms, pleasures pass as swiftly as a flash of lightning or a bubble’s shadow; the moment they arise, they perish. Therefore, this Saha world is said to contain only suffering. In contrast, in Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land of Bliss, the waters, trees, birds, and forests constantly proclaim the sounds of Dharma, fully and clearly revealing the meaning of the path and enabling practitioners to awaken and enter the Buddha’s knowledge and vision.

The Treatise on the Pure Land states: “Humans and devas from the ten directions who are born in that land attain a stage equal to that of bodhisattvas with purified minds, without distinction. Bodhisattvas with purified minds are precisely bodhisattvas who have reached the bhumis. Their stage equals that of Equal Enlightenment; they attain the patience of quiescent extinction and the stage of non-retrogression.” Among the forty-eight vows in the Great Sutra, it is said: “Those born in my land shall receive five great benefits: 1.

If humans and devas from the ten directions who are born in my land do not acquire bodies the color of pure gold, may I not attain perfect enlightenment. 2. If humans and devas from the ten directions who are born in my land are not identical in bodily form and appearance, may I not attain perfect enlightenment. 3. If humans and devas from the ten directions who are born in my land do not attain knowledge of former lives, even to the extent of knowing all events throughout hundreds of thousands of kotis of nayutas of kalpas, may I not attain perfect enlightenment. 4.

If humans and devas from the ten directions who are born in my land do not attain the divine ear, even to the extent of hearing the Buddhas expound hundreds of thousands of kotis of nayutas of teachings and fully comprehending all their words, may I not attain perfect enlightenment. 5. If humans and devas from the ten directions who are born in my land do not attain knowledge of others’ minds, even to the extent of knowing the thoughts of sentient beings throughout hundreds of thousands of kotis of nayutas of Buddha-lands, may I not attain perfect enlightenment.”

The great peace, bliss, and benefits of the Land of Ultimate Bliss cannot be fully described. Those born in that land receive inconceivable benefits. Therefore, it is said that the Land of Ultimate Bliss contains only happiness and goodness, with neither suffering nor evil.

2. The difference in lifespan between the two lands.

Regarding the length or brevity of lifespan, in this realm the longest lifespan is one hundred years. Yet within those hundred years, most die prematurely and few live to old age. Some do not reach fifty, some lose their lives while still children, and others die as soon as they emerge from the womb. Why is this so? Because sentient beings create many different causes, they also experience many different karmic consequences, which are not uniform.

The Nirvana Sutra teaches: “When one creates dark karma, the corresponding karmic consequence is also dark. When one creates pure, bright karma, the corresponding karmic consequence is also pure and bright. All karmic consequences arise from the creation of pure or defiled karma.”

The Pure Land Bodhisattva Sutra states: “Of a person’s hundred years of life, fifty years are taken up by the darkness of night. During the first fifteen years of childhood, one does not yet understand good and evil; after the age of eighty, one’s life is frail and feeble, wholly subject to the suffering of aging and death. Apart from the circumstances mentioned above, a person truly has only fifteen years of life.

During those fifteen years, kings, princes, officials, and those in power are beset on every side and have not a single peaceful day. Soldiers are sent far away to fight wars and guard the frontiers, while some people are confined in prisons. Ordinary householders are bound by favorable and unfavorable affairs and are often unable to have things as they wish.

Thus, upon careful reflection, how much peaceful time is there in a single lifetime in which one can cultivate wholesome karma? How lamentable!”

The same sutra also states: Human beings living in this world have 840 million thoughts during each day and night. When a single evil thought arises, one receives an evil body; with ten evil thoughts, ten evil bodies arise; with a hundred evil thoughts, a hundred evil bodies arise. If, throughout one lifetime, a sentient being entertains evil thoughts for a hundred years, the evil bodies received will fill all the lands throughout the ten directions.

As it is with evil dharmas, so it is with wholesome dharmas. When a single wholesome thought arises, one receives a wholesome body; with a hundred wholesome thoughts, one receives a hundred wholesome bodies. If one practices goodness throughout a single lifetime, one will likewise receive wholesome bodies filling three thousand lands.

If one spends five or ten years mindful of Amitabha Buddha, or continues for many years, and afterward is born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, one immediately attains the Dharma-body of the Pure Land, inconceivably numerous as the sands of many Ganges Rivers.

It was previously explained that in the defiled lands, the life faculty is brief and the retribution-body does not endure for long. If one is born in Amitabha Buddha’s Land of Ultimate Bliss, one’s lifespan will be inconceivably long; throughout hundreds of thousands of kalpas, one will share the same lifespan as Amitabha Buddha.

The Sutra of Infinite Life states: “The Buddha said, ‘Shariputra, why is that Buddha called Amitabha? Shariputra, the devas and humans of the ten directions who are reborn in that land live for hundreds of thousands of millions of kalpas, sharing the same lifespan as the Buddha Infinite Life; therefore, he is called Amitabha. Thus, you should perceive such great benefit and quickly vow to be reborn there.’”

The Sutra of the Good King and Emperor states: “If a person studying the Way wishes to be reborn in Amitabha Buddha’s land and maintains recollection for one day and night, or two days and nights, or three, four, five, six, or seven days and nights, then, when that person’s life ends, eight bodhisattvas will come to receive and guide that person to Amitabha Buddha’s Western Land.” A verse states:

When a single sentient being reaches the Land of Peace and Bliss,

That being is endowed with all the Thirty-two Marks,

Possesses perfect wisdom, and enters the Wondrous Dharma,

Proclaiming the true Dharma without obstruction.

According to whether faculties are keen or dull, the patiences are attained,

The three patiences, up to the ineffable;

Knowledge of past lives and the five superknowledges are ever freely mastered,

Advancing toward Buddhahood and escaping the evil paths.

Those dwelling in that evil, defiled world

Come here and manifest as Great Munis;

Birth in the Land of Peace and Bliss brings great benefit,

Therefore, single-mindedly vow to be reborn there.

Chapter Ten

This chapter explains the method of dedication of merit.

The Dharma-gate of the Pure Land is praised by all Buddhas throughout the ten directions, who exhort sentient beings to vow to be reborn there. The bodhisattvas throughout the ten directions all vow to be reborn there. Devas and humans who desire great benefit all seek birth there. Therefore, the Great Sutra contains this verse:

Amitabha’s spiritual power is boundless;

All Buddhas throughout the ten directions praise him.

Buddhas numerous as the sands of the Ganges in the eastern direction,

And countless bodhisattvas all vow to go there!

Together they make offerings in the Land of Peace and Bliss,

Bodhisattvas, shravakas, and the great assembly alike.

They hear and receive the sutra teachings and words of instruction;

Those in all the other nine directions likewise dedicate merit toward it.

Dedication of merit means turning from here and directing oneself there. For example, when a practitioner of pure karma in the Saha world single-mindedly seeks rebirth, this is called turning from here and directing oneself there. Practitioners of the Pure Land perform various meritorious deeds, whether cultivating the principal causes of pure karma or practicing miscellaneous wholesome deeds; if they dedicate that merit, they can all attain rebirth.

Thus, we sometimes see a person who recited the Diamond Sutra throughout life without practicing mindfulness of the Buddha, yet at the approach of death the Buddha came to welcome that person; this was due to such dedication of merit. All sentient beings possess Buddha-nature, and everyone has the aspiration to attain Buddhahood. Yet if cultivation is undertaken in accordance with the sacred teachings and has not continued for a full ten thousand kalpas—that is, has not passed through one asamkhya kalpa—one has not yet escaped the burning house or completely transcended samsara.

Out of compassion for sentient beings sinking in samsara and enduring immeasurable suffering, the Blessed One revealed the Dharma-gate of the Pure Land and urged them to dedicate their merit toward the West so that they might obtain its benefits.

The function of dedication of merit comprises six kinds:

a. Dedicate all cultivated wholesome karma toward rebirth in Amitabha Buddha’s land. Upon arriving in that land, one immediately attains the six superknowledges, attaining the Buddha Way above and liberating sentient beings below.

b. Turn the cause toward the result: From the moment a cause is created, direct it entirely toward a single result. For example, one who creates the cause of pure karma in the Saha world directs it toward the unsurpassed result of rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

c. Turn from the lower toward the higher: From the position of an ordinary being, vow to be born in the Pure Land in order to perfect the fruit of Buddhahood.

d. Turn from the slow toward the swift: Do not follow methods of gradual cultivation, but proceed directly toward a swift method of practice. It is like a wood-boring insect that wishes to escape from a bamboo stalk: rather than slowly boring through fifty-two bamboo joints before emerging, it need only employ a skillful means and bore sideways through the stalk to emerge very quickly. The fifty-three bamboo joints represent the ordinary method of cultivation, which requires passage through three asamkhya kalpas before one can escape the three realms. A practitioner mindful of the Buddha needs only one lifetime to attain rebirth, become a once-returner destined for Buddhahood, and ultimately attain Buddhahood.

e. Turn merit toward sentient beings with a compassionate mind inclined toward goodness: Practitioners of mindfulness of the Buddha who seek rebirth in the Pure Land do not covet pleasure, but wish to attain Buddhahood and return to liberate sentient beings.

g. Return to liberate sentient beings: After practitioners reach the Land of Ultimate Bliss, they return to the Saha world and manifest numerous bodies to liberate all sentient beings. The Great Sutra states: “Any sentient being who is born in my land naturally advances supremely, passes beyond all the stages, and ultimately attains Buddhahood.” The Great Sutra contains this verse:

The shravakas and bodhisattvas of the Land of Peace and Bliss

Are beyond all comparison within this realm.

The Blessed One possesses unhindered, great eloquence

And establishes many skillful means to liberate sentient beings.

Only upon reaching that land does one attain peace and security;

Its many states are beyond comparison.

All were accomplished through Dharmakara’s power of vows;

With all my heart, I bow to the Great Compassionate Honored One.

Chapter Eleven

This chapter explains spiritual friends and discusses favorable and unfavorable circumstances at the approach of death.

1- An Exhortation to Rely upon Spiritual Friends.

The Dharma Verse Sutra says: “Bodhisattva Jewel Light addressed the Buddha, saying: ‘World-Honored One! Who is called a good spiritual friend?’ The Buddha taught: ‘Good spiritual friends are those who can expound the wondrous Dharma. They teach emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, the equality of all dharmas, no karma, no retribution, no cause, and no effect; ultimately, all is suchness, abiding in the true reality.

Nevertheless, within that ultimate emptiness, they suddenly establish all dharmas—such persons are good spiritual friends. These good spiritual friends are the parents who nurture your bodhi-body. Good spiritual friends are the eye of wisdom, able to discern all good and evil.

Good spiritual friends are the great ship of compassion that carries you across the ocean of birth and death. Good spiritual friends are the rope that draws you out of birth and death. In particular, true good spiritual friends should exhort sentient beings to seek birth in the Pure Land.

Why? Because within this burning house, where one encounters only adverse conditions, most people regress and cannot escape. Thus, in this realm, Shariputra resolved to cultivate the bodhisattva practices for more than sixty kalpas; yet when he encountered an evil friend who asked for his eyes merely to destroy them for sport, he immediately regressed.

One should therefore know that cultivating the bodhisattva path within the burning house is exceedingly difficult. For this reason, most good spiritual friends exhort others to vow to be reborn in the Western Land. Once reborn there, the three trainings naturally advance and flourish, and the myriad practices are all perfected.

Thus, the Great Sutra says: “In Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land, no evil is committed, even one as fine as a strand of silk.”

2- A person after death.

– When the allotted lifespans of sentient beings in this realm are exhausted, they must follow the guidance of their two kinds of karma, wholesome and unwholesome, and undergo rebirth. They have continued in this manner for innumerable kalpas without ever escaping.

– If a person gives rise to faith, takes refuge in the Pure Land, and single-mindedly recollects the Buddha, then at the end of life Amitabha Buddha, together with Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and the assembly of sages, will emit light and come to welcome them. Joyfully, the practitioner joins their palms and follows the Buddha, sits upon a lotus pedestal, and in a moment reaches the Land of Ultimate Bliss, where they enjoy immeasurable happiness until attaining Buddhahood.

– All sentient beings in this realm create differing karma, of three grades—superior, middling, and inferior—and must therefore go before King Yama for judgment.

– If a person has the conditions to believe in the Buddha and vows to be born in the Pure Land, they need only cultivate merits and virtues and dedicate all their practices and karma toward the aspiration for rebirth there. When their life is about to end, the Buddha himself will come to welcome them back to their native home.

Those who fear birth and death should carefully contemplate this exhortation.

Chapter Twelve

This chapter is intended to exhort beings to seek rebirth.

The Sutra of the Ten Means of Rebirth says: “Ananda addressed the Buddha, saying: ‘World-Honored One, what is the method by which all sentient beings contemplate the body? I pray that the World-Honored One will explain it for me.’ The Buddha said: ‘Ananda! As for the Dharma of contemplating the body: do not contemplate east, west, south, or north; do not contemplate the four intermediate directions, above, or below; do not contemplate empty space; do not contemplate external conditions; do not contemplate internal conditions; do not contemplate the physical body; do not contemplate forms or sounds; and do not contemplate images or appearances.

Contemplate only the unconditioned—the true mark of reality. This is the Dharma of right contemplation of the true body. Apart from this contemplation of the body, there is no other method by which liberation may be attained.’ The Buddha further said: ‘Ananda!

One who can contemplate the body—the true mark of reality—will naturally bring forth the power of goodness, naturally develop right mindfulness, and naturally attain liberation. Why? It is like a person who is diligent and straightforward in mind and thereby attains liberation.

Such a person does not seek liberation, yet liberation comes of itself.’

Ananda again addressed the Buddha, saying: ‘World-Honored One, if sentient beings in the world possess right mindfulness and liberation, should they then not fall into the three evil realms of hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals?’ The Buddha said: ‘Ananda! The reason sentient beings in the world do not attain liberation is that most of their conduct is deceitful, lacking truthfulness and right mindfulness. Because of these causes and conditions, most enter the hells, while very few attain liberation.

For example, some people outwardly display filial obedience toward their parents and teachers, yet inwardly harbor unfilial thoughts. Outwardly they appear diligent, yet inwardly they harbor deceit and falsehood. Although the karmic retribution of such evil people has not yet arrived, they are not far from the three evil realms.

Lacking right mindfulness, they cannot attain liberation.

‘Ananda! Listen attentively now. For your sake, I shall teach ten practices for rebirth by which liberation can be attained. What are these ten practices?

1. With right mindfulness contemplating the body, one’s heart always joyful, offer food, drink, and robes to the Buddha and the Sangha; one will attain rebirth in the land of Amitabha Buddha.

2. With right mindfulness, offer various medicines to sick bhikshus of the Sangha and to all sentient beings; one will attain rebirth in the land of Amitabha Buddha.

3. With right mindfulness, do not harm even a single living being, and maintain a compassionate heart toward all; one will attain rebirth in the land of Amitabha Buddha.

4. With right mindfulness, receive the precepts from a precept master, purely cultivate the brahma-conduct, and keep one’s heart always joyful. One will attain rebirth in the land of Amitabha Buddha.

5. With right mindfulness, be filially obedient to one’s parents, honor and serve one’s teachers, and do not give rise to arrogance; one will be born in the land of Amitabha Buddha.

6. With right mindfulness, be reverent when going to the Sangha’s quarters, reverent when entering stupas and monasteries, and, while listening to the Dharma, understand the ultimate truth; one will be born in the land of Amitabha Buddha.

7. With right mindfulness, receive and uphold the eight precepts for one day and one night without violating any of them; one will be born in the land of Amitabha Buddha.

8. With right mindfulness, during a month of abstinence and on observance days, remain apart from the five sensual desires and emotional attachments, and regularly approach good spiritual friends to study and inquire into the supramundane path; one will be born in the land of Amitabha Buddha.

9. With right mindfulness, constantly uphold the pure precepts, diligently cultivate the various methods of meditative concentration, purify the three kinds of karma, and do not boast when attaining samadhi. Those who practice in this manner will be born in the land of Amitabha Buddha.

10. With right mindfulness, do not disparage the unsurpassed path; diligently uphold the pure precepts and teach others to do likewise; together disseminate this sutra and instruct immeasurable sentient beings. All such people will attain rebirth in the land of Amitabha Buddha.

“At that time, Bodhisattva Mountain-Ocean Wisdom, who was in the assembly, addressed the Buddha, saying: ‘World-Honored One! What extraordinary, wondrous joys exist in the land of Amitabha Buddha that all sentient beings vow to be reborn there?’ The Buddha said: ‘Mountain-Ocean Wisdom! You should rise, join your palms, straighten your body, face west, and with right mindfulness contemplate the land and Amitabha Buddha, aspiring to see Amitabha Buddha.’ At that time, the entire great assembly also rose, joined their palms, and together contemplated Amitabha Buddha.

Amitabha Buddha then manifested great spiritual powers and emitted a great light that illuminated the body of Bodhisattva Mountain-Ocean Wisdom. At that moment, Bodhisattva Mountain-Ocean Wisdom and the great assembly immediately beheld the land of Amitabha Buddha and clearly saw its manifest splendor and adornments. Everything was made of the seven treasures: mountains of seven treasures, a realm of seven treasures, waters, birds, trees, and forests that constantly proclaimed the sounds of Dharma.

In that land, the Dharma wheel is turned every day. The people there do not train in external matters but rightly train in inward matters. Their mouths speak Vaipulya teachings, their ears hear the sounds of Vaipulya teachings, and their minds understand the meaning of the Vaipulya teachings.

“At that time, Bodhisattva Mountain-Ocean Wisdom addressed the Buddha, saying: ‘World-Honored One! Today we have seen that the Land of Ultimate Bliss possesses many extraordinary wonders and inconceivable benefits. I now pray that all sentient beings should make the vow to be reborn there, and we ourselves also vow to be reborn in that land.’ The Buddha bestowed a prediction upon them and said: ‘Through right contemplation and right mindfulness, one attains right liberation, and all will be born in that land.’”

If any good man or good woman has firm faith in this sutra, delights in this sutra, teaches it to sentient beings, and together with them speaks of it and listens to it, they shall all attain rebirth in the land of Amitabha Buddha. If there are such persons, from this day forth I shall always cause twenty-five great bodhisattvas to protect and sustain them, always ensuring that they are free from illness and distress. Neither humans nor nonhumans shall find any opportunity to harm them; whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, by day or by night, they shall always abide in peace and security.

Bodhisattva Mountain-Ocean Wisdom addressed the Buddha, saying: “World-Honored One! I now accept and uphold this teaching, not daring to harbor the slightest doubt. Yet in the world there are many sentient beings who slander this sutra and do not believe in it. What karmic retribution will such persons undergo in the future?”

The Buddha said: “Mountain-Ocean Wisdom! In a future age, within Jambudvipa, if any bhiksu or bhiksuni, upon seeing or reading and reciting this sutra, gives rise to anger and harbors slanderous thoughts, then because of slandering the true Dharma, that person shall in this very body suffer many kinds of grave illness. Their faculties shall be impaired; they shall be blind, deaf, mute, or speech-impaired; demons and ghosts shall possess them; and they shall find no peace whether sitting or standing.

They shall seek life but be unable to live, and seek death but be unable to die. Upon death, they may fall into the hells and undergo immense suffering for eighty thousand kalpas. For hundreds, thousands, and myriads of kalpas, they shall never even hear the names of food and drink.

For many kalpas thereafter, they shall be born among animals, taking the bodies of oxen, horses, pigs, and goats, to be slaughtered by people and eaten as meat, enduring many forms of extreme suffering. Even if they attain human birth, they shall always be born into lowly circumstances and, for hundreds, thousands, and myriads of kalpas, shall have no freedom. They shall forever be unable to hear the names of the Three Jewels.

Therefore, those without wisdom and those without faith should not speak of this sutra!”

Verse of Dedication

The merit of circulating this collected work,

Is universally bestowed upon all.

May they first arouse the bodhicitta,

Together turn toward the Pure Land,

And all alike accomplish the Buddha Way.